Maplewood runs away with third straight title

The Rockets beat out McDonald to capture the 4x800-meter relay.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
DAYTON -- So you're Maplewood High senior Terry Rush and you're running the first leg of the Rockets' 4x800-meter relay and you start to look for McDonald's Jason Corman -- your top competition -- and it dawns on you that the guy who is supposed to be Corman looks an awful lot like Kevin Stonestreet, who usually anchors the relay.
Then you realize that it is Stonestreet.
And then you realize you have a problem.
"And I'm like, 'Ooooh -- good idea by them,' " Rush said.
"That's the smartest thing they could have done," added Rocket junior Paul Moser. "If we would have had a bad race, they would have had it."
But after finishing the first leg in sixth, Rush handed off to Moser, who handed off to Derek Armstrong, who handed off to Palmer and pretty soon Palmer found himself right next to McDonald's Joe Kunkel.
Took the lead
And then Palmer passed him, finding himself in the lead with just 100 meters remaining.
And that's when, if you're a Rocket, you start to breath a little easier.
"There's 100 left and the passion's high and you know you can't get passed and that you just need to run your race," Palmer said.
And he did.
Which is why -- and how -- Maplewood won its third straight state title in the event, running a time of 7 minutes, 55.21 seconds, to finish just .38 off Caldwell's state meet record in Friday's Division III state track and field meet at Welcome Stadium.
"I'd say we achieved immortality," Rush said with a smile.
McDonald placed second -- it finished third last year -- with a time of 8:01.41 and South Range placed fifth (8:06.33).
A familiar face
After the race, the teams exchanged hugs and smiles, and a familiar face in an Akron Zips hat gathered the Rockets together for a photo. The photographer was Dave Pykare, who anchored the relay the past two years.
"Just to have Dave come down and to have run with him is a great feeling," Palmer said.
The Rockets wore their baby blue uniforms, which they also wore when they won the state cross country title last fall.
"We wanted to stand out," Rush said with a smile. "What's better than baby blue?"
"And the best part is we get to keep these," Palmer said. "In 10 years, we'll pull these old dusty uniforms out of a box. And whether we're overweight and eating potato chips on the couch, or still running, we'll remember this day."
scalzo@vindy.com